(29 minutes)



To some, the 2024 Sun Devils do remind them of the great 1996 team. And one of the stars on that squad, All-American left tackle Juan Roque, who talked to the team before the blowout win in Tucson, does see some parallels between both groups. In our discussion, Roque also talks about the value of head coach Kenny Dillingham being an Arizona State alumnus and how do you block out all the hype off the field as you prepare for the biggest game of the year on the field.

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In the summer of 1967, I was a 2nd Lt in the USAF. I was traveling by car from my base in South Dakota to a training assignment in Virginia. I stopped on the Pennsylvania Turnpike around Wheeling, West Virginia. As I was pumping gas, several people came over to my car when they saw my ASU decal. “Frank Kush lived over that mountain,” one of the people said as he pointed to the left. I stayed at the station for 15 minutes talking ASU football with strangers. I had a smile on my face when I continued on the trip. GO DEVILS!

With 3 games to go in the regular season, Myles Rowser is in the thick of the hunt for All-Big 12 honors
He is currently 3rd among DBs in Tackles Per Game and 3rd among them in Solos .

Oklahoma State's senior Trey Rucker currently has a very good shot to be first team safety, but Rowser could very well beat out u4's fellow junior Dalton Johnson for the other spot with the 1's (2 others in the hunt, but possibly below the top 3 are CU senior Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig and WVU's senior Anthony Wilson

Ghost's coverage has improved nearly every game and he is currently tied for 3rd on the team with 5 PBUs (more than Rucker. Johnson, Simon Craig & Wilson combined) to go along with his 2 QB Hurries, 3 TFL and 1 sack. Only Rucker (2) and Wilson (1) have an INT among the 5

In 2023, the Big 12 had 5 Safeties between the 1st and 2nd All-Big 12 teams (Back when there were 12 teams and before the league lost both bluebloods)

Fortunately for Rowser, Dilly does not penalize boneheaded penalties with reduced PT and so far the penalties have dried up for him

Obviously Skatt has a VERY GOOD shot( leading the conference in all purpose yards by 16 per game) despite UCF's Harvey, Texas Tech's Brooks and Kansas State's Giddens playing very well.

Jordyn Tyson has a very long shot that would require a huge finish & others to slow down

perhaps Fautanu has a shot (he has some penalties and some sacks allowed but no bad snaps), not sure about other centers in the Big 12 but the 2 All-Big 12s from 2023 did not return..............and possibly no other Sun Devil has a realistic shot.......Clayton Smith was headed in that direction early in the season and maybe he gets hot))

Members,

I am on the Fiesta Bowl committee and currently serve as the fundraising chair. I have been a long-time member here and supporter of the Sun Devils. As Yellow Jackets we are given a unique code for discounted seat geek fees on tickets when you use our link below. I thought this would be cool to offer the link to anyone here and anyone you would like to share it with. The link takes you to seat geek and applies my code for 15% off fees. The one caveat is, this is a pre-sale promotion that ends on Dec. 6th in order for us to drive sales before teams are announced.

There is an outside shot the Devils could be in there, and how amazing that would be. However, we still a way to go. Either way this promises to be a great game and it's the first ever quarter final being played. We could use the support of all you and your friends to make this game great.

I will have two links to share, one for the Fiesta Bowl and the other for the Rate Bowl. If you decide to use this, you will get them below face value. Thank you for your support!

Below are links to each game, you receive 15% off the 25% seat geek fees.

Here are my unique links that include the discount code, please feel free to share with family and friends!

https://seatgeek.com/fiesta-bowl-tickets/ncaa-football/2024-12-31-2-pm/6381893?sgo_ac=MLINDSLEY

GRB Link:

https://seatgeek.com/guaranteed-rat...ball/2024-12-26-7-pm/6382144?sgo_ac=MLINDSLEY

Hope you all take advantage of this, Go Devils!!!!

For the team and coaches. Outstanding.

But I am also grateful for this season for the old timers and the guys getting up there in age. They get to have this moment. Maybe even some of the old-time fans could have a health issue right now and this really boosts the mood.

This is why I am critical of the failed leadership. When you let down the people like this, you aren’t impacting just your organization, you are impacting the fans. It’s not about you.

So to the old timers this one’s for you!

The last regular season practice open to the media took place today at Kajikawa Field. Here are our observations from that session.

Does the Big 12 equally share in the bowl revenue like the PAC 12 did?

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = Basking in the Glow

We may be basking in the glow this morning after we skinned the Cats 49-7 to clinch a spot in the Big-12 championship game next Saturday in Arlington, TX...

But, the AU fans down here are not looking forward to any of those potential I-10 signs, that Greg Hansen points out in his Notebook this morning, that might read something like this...

"IT'S SPLAT FOR THE CATS - 49-7"

OR

"THE TEAM DOWN SOUTH GETS PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH - 49-7"

He asked who saw this coming from a AU team that was picked third (actually picked 5th with three first place votes) in the Big-12 by the preseason media while the Devil were picked dead last in the conference...

He goes on to say that the Sun Devil fans sure didn't see it coming because for the past 25 years the Devils have gone 165-155 and only been ranked four times during that time span (19th in 2004, 16th in 2007, 21st in 2013 and 12th in 2014)...

Basically, a quarter century of being on the fringe of irrelevance, in his estimation...

But, this season seemed to change all that as the Devils hired a young coach who looks like somebody from the old "Happy Days" cast who has turned things around quickly and deserves to be the Big-12 Coach of the Year, rather than someone like Prime Time...

I don't know how we will do in the Big-12 championship game but do know that I like being in the Big-12 where we might be able to compete in the top third of the conference regularly...

I'm not sure how we would do in either the SEC or B!G but could ask fans in places like LA and Seattle how they like being in one of those conferences...

Frank Kush always liked being a big fish in a small pond rather than the other way around and that works really well for me, too...

Money isn't everything but you do need enough of it to survive in any conference these days, as we all know...

On another note, ASU now faces Iowa St that is coached by Matt Campbell (45) who won the Big-12 in 2020 with Brock Purdy as his QB...

The Cyclones are well coached and don't beat themselves and have a very good QB in Rocco Becht...

So, it looks to be a toss-up type of game that involves two teams that have earned the right to be in the championship match-up next weekend in Arlington, TX...

I'm glad it's worked out this way, for if the Buffs, coached by Prime Time, were in it, the media fawning over him would be over the top and take away from what both Dilly and Campbell have done as coaches for their respective teams this season...

Well, I'm off to get some coffee and left-over banana bread from Thanksgiving and have a lot to be thankful for after that big Sun Devil win yesterday...

Congrats to Dilly, his staff and his players for their great accomplishments this season...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

"It’s really about finding ways to get better from the game and applying those lessons the next week against a new opponent." A thrilling win over BYU has taught ASU a lot about themselves, and the aim is for those lessons to be applied against Arizona

The conference has nine teams playing in bowl games this year...

12-17 = Scooters Coffee Frisco Bowl featuring W Virginia vs Memphis (ACC)

12-26 = Rate Bowl featuring K-State vs Rutgers (B1G)

12-27 = AutoZone Liberty Bowl featuring Texas Tech vs Arkansas (SEC)

12-28 = Isleta New Mexico Bowl featuring TCU vs Louisville (ACC)

12-28 = Pop Tarts Bowl featuring Iowa St vs Miami (FL) (ACC)

12-28 = Valero Alamo Bowl featuring Colorado vs BYU

12-31 Kinder's Texas Bowl featuring Baylor vs LSU (SEC)

12-31 Chick fil A Peach Bowl featuring Big-12 conference champion ASU vs TBD between Texss and Clemson

So, we have several match-ups between Big-12 teams and the SEC and B1G along with ACC match-ups...

I'll be rooting for all of our conference brethren in those games...Go Big-12 and Go Devils!!!

Per the Big 12, ASU would be eliminated from the Big 12 championship race with a loss to BYU AND a Colorado victory at Kansas.

If ASU beats BYU and Arizona to reach 7-2 in Big 12 play, then the tiebreaker scenarios would depend on who and how many teams are also tied at 7-2.

As I understand it (this is me talking, not the Big 12), BYU would have to beat Houston in the last week of the regular season for ASU, again assuming they win both the BYU and Arizona games, to earn a spot in the Big 12 championship game.